SPELLO
I really love the Sinsa area of Seoul for a day of outside shopping. It is officially called Sinsadong Garosu-gil (The Gingko tree-lined street) Garosu-gil actually translates directly to "tree lined street" in Korean. It runs from Sinsa Station (Subway Line 3) to Hyeondae High School. It is a popular, upscale area that is also referred to as ‘artists' street’ because of its eccentric flair thanks to its variety of charmingly decorated coffee shops and designer stores. Garosu-gil is particularly popular in autumn when the golden Gingko leaves begin to fall and perfect in the Spring as well due to the beautiful weather.
There are tons of unique boutiques that line the main street along with the street behind it. They both have a great selection of stores and if you’re not from Seoul, it's a good introduction to some popular Korean Brands especially the skincare kind. I'll cover some of my affordable favorites below.
Spello is a really cool leather goods store located on the street behind the main tree lined street closer to Sinsa station in the map below. I am showing two maps here for reference. The back street is located at 18 Dosan-daero (Spello's Location) and the map showing the Apple Store is located on the main street. These two streets are filled with luxury vehicles driving up and down and shoppers in the latest Korean fashions and high-end designer gear.
Location Of Spello
Location Of Apple Store Garosugil
APPLE STORE
This store is brand new as of 2018 and is the only Apple store in all of Seoul, so you can imagine how busy they are, but they manage to keep things flowing and have a lot of people on staff to help. Click Here For My Full Blog Post On My Experience.
LEATHER GOODS
SAPPUN - SEOUL
BAGAZIMURI
STRETCH ANGELS
Strench Angels is a cool store that is designed to look exactly like an airport/plane. Its super cool design makes it fun to take pictures inside or out and they have a really cool selection of sporty travel gear, backpacks and totes.
VIBRATEVibrate's Website
This is a really cool streetwear brand that is very popular in Korea. Its styles are geared towards the 90's modern look.
ACCESSORIES SHOPPING
There are many cute little boutiques with outside and inside shopping on the back street as well as the main street. Little outside accessory shops are huge in Korea and are found literally everywhere.
UNDERGROUND SHOPPING
I really loved this shop and need to figure out the name of it when I head back but it had really cool designs and some designer knock offs. Often times Korean clothing doesn't always fit taller people and they will offer one size only called "Free Size". I did however, notice this store had a few oversized items.
LANEIGE
Down the street in this photo, past the Bentley, you'll see Laneige. This is one Korean skin care line that is carried all across the US and is also extremely popular here. In the US they only carry certain products but here they have a vast array and a few different lines including a make-up line. I personally love their Water Sleeping Mask which you can buy in Sephora in the US.
MCM
SKINFOOD
The above photo of SKINFOOD is a look down the main tree lined shopping street. I really love their Black Sugar Perfect Scrub and use it often for a good exfoliation. Skinfood is a very popular Korean Skincare line and has many locations around in and around Seoul.
Banilla
Banilla is also located on this street and has many other locations in Seoul. My favorite products from here are Clean It Zero that is the most amazing product to take off make up. It is one of Korea's all time best selling products and is even becoming well known in the states. Recently there has been an update to it. They have improved the formula and replaced the mineral oil, BHT, and butyl parahydroxybenzoate with skin-friendly ingredients. The texture of the formula has also been improved to be smoother with a higher melting point, and the coloring is now derived from natural ingredients. This is a highly hydrating oil cleanser that effectively cleanses off stubborn makeup without stripping your skin and leaving your skin feeling super tight. I also really love their eyebrow pencils and eyeliner and they all happen to be very reasonably priced.
NEUF HOTEL
DR. JART FLAGSHIP STORE
If you don't know about Dr. Jart this is defiantly one skin care line you should get on top of. They have their flagship store located in Sinsa. I have a ton of their products and I highly recommend many of their lines. All of the descriptions are in English so it should be pretty easy to navigate the products.
Some of my favorite products include:
-Dr. Jart - Ceramidin - Cream Creme - Moisture Barrier Protector (Facial) (I use this after essence as it is so thick it almost needs a little fluid based product to push it around)
-Dr. Jart UV Sun Fluid SPF 30 and 50
-Dr. Jart Peel Better Good Night Duo
-Dr. Jart Ceramidin Oil Shower (Help dry skin in the shower)
THE GALLERIA
This street has tons of really unique boutiques but if you’re looking for high-end shopping, I would recommend walking all the way to the end of the street and heading over to The Galleria across from the Apgujeong Rodeo Subway stop. The Galleria has everything designer you could ever want and it is split up into two buildings, Luxury Store East and Luxury Store West. It also has a high-end grocery store and food court located below Luxury Store West. The West Hall has Gucci, Prada and Louis Vuitton and the above floors have a collection of many different designers in smaller sections, department store style. They have brands like All Saints, Gentle Monster (Cool Korean Sunglass Brand), other name brands and Korean brands as well. This store features highly trendy items that are a bit on the expensive side but really displayed in a cool way that it’s almost like walking through a museum of fashion. The other side is the East Hall which is comprised of even more high-end shopping with Goyard, Dior, Chanel, Off White, Balenciaga, and almost every designer name you could think of.
Regardless of if you’re in the mood to purchase, this store is worth checking out as the fashion and set up of each section are really creative. Seoul is one of the best places on earth to go department store shopping as they just have so many designers available. It is hard if your shopping for a shoe size larger than 8.5 women's and around size 11 or so for men but, as far as everything else you should be able to find what you’re looking for. This shoe size issue is all over Asia and not just this department store, so stalk up if you heading from home to Seoul.
RESTAURANT RECs:
Aori Ramen (Super casual, individual seating)
Scuro (Italian Wine Bar)
Masa Taco (Casual Califorina Mexican)
The Kitchen By Salvatore Cuomo (Italian)
Dior Cafe (Expensive, by swanky Coffee and Desserts)
Store Links:
OTHER STORES ON THE MAIN STREET:
There are many other stores on this street but some of the basics are: